Hunter was good for community

TRACI ANDERSON

Published 1:09 pm, Monday, April 25, 2016

He'd been such an important part of his community as a businessman and civil servant for so many years, he proved to be an outstanding subject for a story. We talked for hours in his kitchen, followed by a tour of his sheds in which he kept his antique vehicles, including Fords - a source of pride for him.

This man was RB Hunter, former mayor and fire chief of Port Hope. Hunter passed away Sept. 3 in the Harbor Beach Community Hospital at the age of 90.

Hunter served as mayor for 52 years and was the longest serving mayor in Michigan, according to the Michigan Municipal League. He also served on the fire department and was the town's fire chief for decades. He was a charter member and long-time active member of the board of the Eastern Huron Ambulance Service based in Harbor Beach. He worked for Brinker Lumber Co. in Kinde and then was sent to manage the Brinker Lumber yard in Port Hope in 1935. He purchased the Reidel Lumber Co. in Harbor Beach in 1960 and operated it as the Hunter Lumber Co. until he sold the business in 2003.

People remember RB as a good man dedicated to the village he loved and the people he served.

"He was an exceptional man," said Vicki Koglin, who served with Hunter on the village council for a number of years. Koglin is the village's clerk. "He was a grandpa figure to me."

She said she always liked it when he called her "my dear."

"I know he called a lot of people that, but it just gave me a warm feeling whenever he called me 'my dear,'" she said.

Koglin said as mayor, Hunter would "listen to everyone and was willing to work with everyone."

She said community was very important to him.

"He cared so much for the community - the community was family to him," she said.

She said he believed that Port Hope was the best place to live.

Koglin said Hunter took pride in the fact that in 2000, the village purchased two new shiny red fire engines and built a beautiful village/fire hall - a total of about $600,000 - all paid for in cash. Not one penny was borrowed.

"That amazes people (in other towns)," she said. "That doesn't happen in most places."

The hall was named in honor of Hunter at a ceremony that was a surprise for the humble Hunter.

Koglin said she knows that his children, Jim, David, and Donna, are very proud of their father.

Alan McTaggart, who took over the position of mayor when he won the election over Hunter in 2002, said Hunter had very traditional values.

"His work ethic was unbelievable," McTaggart said. "No matter what he did, he wholeheartedly put everything into it, whether it was the lumber business or the village business."

McTaggart said Hunter "was never a dictator."

"He surrounded himself with people he could trust, people who thought the same way he did," he said. "That's why the village has been able to survive financially … he was fair with people. He treated everyone the same."

McTaggart said he will miss Hunter for his ability to "run the (village council) meetings and not say anything."

McTaggart, who served on the village council for about 20 years before becoming mayor, said when he was considering running for mayor in 2002, he asked Hunter for his opinion.

He said he remembers Hunter carrying a leather satchel with him everywhere. Inside of the satchel was bookkeeping for his lumber business.

"Everything he needed was in that satchel," McTaggart said. "He did all the bookkeeping."

He said Hunter felt a strong sense of responsibility for his town.

"He was always on call," he said. "He felt he could never leave town (in case he was needed)."

McTaggart said Hunter was in charge of the town's Fourth of July parade and took a very hands-on role in the planning of the parade.

"He took pride in directing traffic … and making sure it never rained on the Fourth of July parade," he said.

McTaggart said Hunter was willing to help the village in any way he could.

"He was quick to loan out his personal equipment to the village," he said.

Grace Lange, one of Hunter's neighbors, said her husband, Walter Jr., worked for Hunter for about 60 years.

"That says something," Lange said about Hunter.

She said she remembers visiting with Hunter and his first wife, Gladys, while they all gardened in their respective yards.

"(RB) was a great leader of a small community," she said. "He had a good, full life. He did things he enjoyed."

"He was a pillar in the community," concurred Harold McTaggart, Alan McTaggart's father who sat on the village council with Hunter for 45 years. He also was with Hunter on the fire department for the same amount of time. "Whenever there was something good done in the village, RB was behind it."

Harold McTaggart said if someone asked Hunter a question and he didn't know the answer, instead of pretending he knew the answer, Hunter would check into it first.

"He was always thinking ahead," he said. "He didn't want to give up on any job."

He added that people may not know Hunter initiated and led the formation of an alliance with Huron, Bloomfield, Gore and Rubicon townships and wrote contracts to have Port Hope provide fire protection to those townships.

Hunter also did something special for the village during the Christmas season. He'd built an animated Santa Claus and reindeer decoration to put on top of the lumberyard building in Port Hope, and people would come around from miles to see it. Later on, Hunter began setting it up in his front yard and added more to it.

No matter what memories people have of Hunter, they're sure to be warm, happy memories that can be shared for many generations to come.

"He was a nice man and was good for the community," Koglin said. "He'll be missed. Everyone was blessed to know him."